iOS 13 adoption is at 50%, less than a month after release

In brief: When it comes to getting its latest operating system updates out to users, Apple has always been ahead of Google. According to the Cupertino firm, 50 percent of all iPhones were running iOS 13 just 26 days after launch.

Breaking down the numbers, Apple writes that 55 percent of iPhones introduced over the last four years are running iOS 13, while 38 percent are running iOS 12. Just 7 percent are running an earlier version of the operating system.

Apple discovers these numbers by checking iPhones that access the App Store. Overall, 41 percent of handsets are using iOS 12, and just 9 percent are on an earlier version, meaning 50 percent are using iOS 13, which only arrived last month.

Apple also revealed adoption information for the new iPadOS. It writes that 33 percent of all devices use iPadOS, with 51 percent on iOS 12 and 16 percent using an earlier version. The figures are better when looking at iPad devices introduced within the last four years: 41 percent are using iPadOS, 51 percent are using iOS 12, and just 8 percent are on an earlier OS. It's also worth remembering that iPadOS arrived nearly a week after iOS 13.

The figures are in stark contrast to Google's. Its fragmentation problem means millions of devices are running Android versions as old as Android 5.0 Lollipop. Google hasn't been reporting adoption rates of its latest OS recently, but in May, Android 9 was installed on just 10.4 percent of devices, so you can expect a low percent of devices to be sporting Android 10.

While iOS 13 adoption rates are impressive, it certainly hasn't been without its problems. The release saw three updates in eleven days, and Apple this week issued iOS 13.1.3 to address iPhone and iPad bugs.